Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 23 November 2022 to Question 89687 on District Heating, when he expects people on heat networks to receive the benefits of this financial assistance; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that any savings are passed onto the consumer by the administrators of heat networks.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a price reduction to eligible Heat Suppliers on non-domestic tariffs. Energy supplies to communal heat networks use commercial contracts. The prices being charged on non-domestic contracts are already being reduced by the Energy Prices Act and accompanying regulations. The EBRS Pass-through Requirement (Heat Suppliers) Regulations 2022 requires eligible heat suppliers to pass on the benefits of the discount in a just and reasonable way. Heat suppliers should start to receive any EBRS discounts for October energy usage in their November bills and must inform their customers within 30 days of themselves receiving the discount. The regulations appoint the Energy Ombudsman to resolve disputes about the pass-through of these discounts in Great Britain.